THE LIVING MOUNTAIN

Carole admiring the Loch Avon Basin

Lairig Ghru

Feithe Buidhe waterfalls

Coire an Lochain

Goat Track

Female ptarmigan

Silence, taking it all in

Sound recording

Boulders, Coire an t-Sneachda

Male ptarmigan

Globe Flower

Bliss

Just in the last few years the Nan Shepherd book 'The Living Mountain' has become critically acclaimed by many outdoor writers and outdoor folk in general.
In this masterpiece of nature writing, Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others. Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape.
Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the ‘essential nature’ of the Cairngorms; her quest led her to write this classic meditation on the magnificence of mountains, and on our imaginative relationship with the wild world around us. Composed during the Second World War, the manuscript of The Living Mountain lay untouched for more than thirty years before it was finally published.

Carole was out with me today in The Cairngorms to do some research into this book and to see, feel and hear these mountains that Nan Shepherd roamed across for much of her life. This research is part of Carole's MA in Art degree at Newcastle University. She couldn't have chosen a more perfect weather day.
We had a great walk around the areas that I personally think are the most scenic, quiet and 'wild' in The Northern Cairngorms. Armed with sound recording devices, GPros and photographic equipment to capture the essence of these wonderful hills. Carole came away at the end of the day with wonderful memories and a small insight into Nan Shepherd's world.

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